Caspian Sea Water Levels Drop to Historic Low, Scientists Say
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Caspian Sea Water Levels Drop to Historic Low, Scientists Say
Water levels in the Caspian Sea have dropped to historic lows, Russian state news agency TASS reported. The decline in sea level is most evident in the shallow northern part, which borders Russia and Kazakhstan.
Specialists at the Volga-Caspian Fisheries Research Institute said the Caspian’s water level fell to more than 29 meters below the Baltic Sea, a standard reference point used in Russia and some post-Soviet states to measure the depths of landlocked bodies of water across the region.
The average Caspian Sea level over the past century has varied, but it typically hovers around 26 to 27 meters below the Baltic Sea.
“The decline in sea level is most evident in the shallow northern part, which borders Russia and Kazakhstan,” the institute told TASS. “This is where the retreating sea is exposing large areas of the seabed. It is also where the most biologically rich and densely populated ecosystems are located.”
Caspian Sea level drops to record low
The level of the Caspian Sea has dropped below the minimum level for the entire period of instrumental observations. Experts note an increase in water evaporation from the surface of the sea and rivers.
The level of the Caspian Sea has dropped to a record low for the entire period of observation due to a decrease in the flow of river water, a representative of the Volga-Caspian branch of the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries told RIA Novosti.
“Currently, the level of the Caspian Sea has dropped below the minimum level for the entire period of instrumental observations: it is less than minus 29 meters according to the Baltic system of heights,” he said.
Among the reasons for the situation, experts note an increase in water evaporation from the surface of the sea and rivers due to an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and an increase in temperature, as well as active water consumption from the rivers feeding the Caspian Sea.